Fear The Walking Dead review: “Here To Help” sets up an exciting season

Fear The Walking Dead returned with an episode that sets up a darker season ahead and some new survivor stories.

Fear The Walking Dead’s first episode of season 5, “Here To Help” started with a bang, literally.

Max and Dylan, two new faces to the show, are out hunting when they are surprised by a plane that crash lands nearby. As they struggle to fend off walkers and try to figure out what just happened, Alicia, bleeding but not noticing, steps out of the smoke and immediately goes into warrior mode, killing walkers and clearing the area around the crash.

Al, Morgan, June, Luciana, and John are all on the plane that was being piloted by Al and crashed when it lost an engine. Luciana is badly hurt and the group struggles to get their bearings, triage their wounds, and keep the kids safe. They’re on a mission and nothing is going to stop them from helping anyone and everyone that they can find.

But this isn’t a hopeful scenario. Fear The Walking Dead makes it clear in its season 5 premiere that this world is distinctly different from The Walking Dead world.

In that world, there’s always been a little tinge of hope — much more prevalent now that Michonne and others are leading budding communities. However, Fear The Walking Dead‘s world is darker, bleaker, and tougher.

One thing that director Michael Satrazemis does so well with Fear is blend those aspects of the post-apocalyptic world with an emotional beauty. It’s what made season 4’s “Close Your Eyes” such a stunning episode and it’s what makes “Here To Help” a very powerful beginning to what looks like a really exciting and intense season.

Introducing the apocalypse killing squad

When Morgan and Alicia band together to deal with the walkers who are drawn to the flaming wreckage of the plane while the others try to stabilize Luciana, who is seriously injured, it’s very clear that Morgan and Alicia are incredibly efficient killers. Alicia by herself racks up a huge body count, but when she and Morgan work together, they do so in a tactical way that is efficient and effective. Alicia’s tripwire perimeter slows the walkers down so that she and Morgan can kill them one by one. It’s beautiful to watch. Alicia has a killing a capacity that rivals any horror movie heroine.

The relationship between these two is very complex and they balance each other out really nicely. Morgan brings out the emotional side of Alicia and helps her to process her grief, and rage, and all the trauma she’s suffered while she helps Morgan to get out of his head and focus on what needs to be done at any given point in time. The deep understanding they have of each other makes them a fierce fighting team.

The rest of the squad is also very capable at taking care of walkers but it seems like Morgan and Alicia could definitely take on and beat any challenge that apocalypse throws at them. Alicia is taking the lead as the head fighter of the group and it’s a role that suits her well.

An enemy on the rise: Logan

Another new face on the scene, Logan, has already caused plenty of trouble for our Fear favorites.

Logan tricks Morgan, Alicia and the rest by sending them on a wild goose chase, lying that he and his people were surrounded by walkers, all so he could take control of the denim factory they found at the end of season 4.

Remember sweet ol’ truck driver Clayton, aka Polar Bear? Logan was Clayton’s partner, and as such, claims he has ownership of the denim factory. He makes it clear to Morgan that he doesn’t want to fight or have people die he just wants the factory since it is, in fact, his.

But there’s something in his tone and his demeanor that implies that while he might not be looking for a fight, he could definitely finish one in a bloody and spectacular fashion if they decide to push the issue. He’s carries a sense of menace that is both unnerving and wonderful, sort of like Negan on The Walking Dead but less inclined to the theatrics that Negan loves so much.

New kids

One of the most interesting things about Fear The Walking Dead is that it tells the survival stories of many different types of people. On The Walking Dead, the stories that have been told are all pretty similar in a way. They’re all stories of people looking for other people, community and safety. On Fear The Walking Dead, the stories are of different types of people who are looking for different things.

The boys who were seen in the opening scene, Max and Dylan, have a sister Annie but no other family. When Max is showing Dylan how to kill a deer in the opening of the episode, it’s a reminder that there are many people — especially those born just before or after the apocalypse — who are learning how to survive in a whole new way. Listening to Annie’s speech about not trusting people is a poignant reminder of the brutality of that world.

It has to mean something

At the truck stop, the group ‘s morale is pretty low. People don’t seem to want their help, and many of the people they’ve tried to find from Al’s tapes are dead or missing. But for this group, finding meaning in the apocalypse by helping others is something that is intrinsic to who they are. It’s what they stay alive for, and it’s how they honor Nick and Madison and all the people they’ve lost. They need to help people because as Morgan says, “If we’re out here we need to make it mean something.”.

Even John Dorie is downcast. He and June have a lovely moment where he seems to be losing faith but June reminds him that she had given up on the world and on herself until she found him. She still believes they can do that for others. The relationship between John and June is so authentic and lovely to watch. It is a great contrast to the bleakness of the world around them.

Daniel Salazar is alive

As Strand, the twins, and Charlie deal with Logan’s double cross Strand watches Al’s tape marked “Skidmark” because she told Strand on the radio after the crash the guy on that tape has a small plane which they can use to get to where Al and the others are.

But when Victor watches the tape he’s stunned to see that the guy on the tape is Daniel Salazar, who survived Strand’s shooting him in the face at the dam and somehow made it to Texas. Strand is going to have to try to convince Daniel to help them, and their reunion should be very interesting. It’s so good to see Daniel Salazar again, even if it’s just on tape for now.

Althea’s huge find

Althea goes back to the crash site at night because she wants to check out something she saw on the tape from the crash site. The walker in the armor and helmet that attacked her had an emblem on his clothing that isn’t familiar to Al, but is familiar to fans of The Walking Dead. The emblem was the three ringed design that is connected to the group that Jadis is connected to and that took Rick Grimes.

Who is this community? What do they want? Does their exploration of the crash site have something to do with the radiation signs that are all over the area? It looks like Fear The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead are going to be sharing a storyline as well as having Morgan and Dwight crossover from The Walking Dead to Fear The Walking Dead.

“Here To Help” was a great start to season 5 of Fear The Walking Dead. The episode had a great blend of action and character development and it introduced some new characters and some intriguing new story arcs as well as setting up the return of Daniel Salazar. I, for one, feel this season is going to be not only exciting, but definitely a whole new apocalyptic adventure for our Fear crew.

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